Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/12/2019
NRHP Listing Date 08/18/2020
NRHP Reference Number RS100004989
The Doctors Building was constructed in a time of drastic architectural, medical, and social change in the mid-20th century. Designed in the International Style, the medical office buildings reflected a progressive, efficient and accessible approach to healthcare in their streamlined and modern aesthetic. Constructed by the well-known local contractor Lanier Anderson, the three-story, brick-veneer building was completed in 1957 and was followed in 1960 by a split-level, brick-veneer annex building. Collectively the buildings are a landmark of the post-World War II changes in medical care and clinic design beginning with the Hill-Burton Hospital Survey and Construction Act of 1946. In its first three years, the main building’s segregated waiting rooms fell in line with the expectations of a system of racial segregation, which was tolerated until 1965 even by health facilities built with federal funds from the Hill-Burton Act. Despite having segregated waiting rooms in its early years, the Doctors Building was one of only a few public buildings on Main Street in Danville that African American residents could freely enter. In addition to providing testimony to the emergence of significant social changes, Doctors Buildings’ residential setting in the Danville Historic District clearly illustrates trends in community planning and development during the 1950s that precipitated the decentralization of downtowns.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: December 29, 2021
